Roses in December

God gave us memories so we could have roses in December.

Hard to believe that December is here! In honor of the above quote, I will share with you a most unusual memory - my "December rose".

It happened on Saturday. Someone asked me when my love for writing began. I honestly don't know. I remember writing lots of reports in fifth grade and really enjoying the process. But the first time I think that I wrote passionately from my heart was in the sixth grade. We were all assigned a paper on "Thanksgiving". It must have been the first time that I researched the Pilgrims. I remember being very moved that they had such a difficult trip. I also remember trying to put myself in their shoes. I couldn't imagine getting out of the Mayflower and having no where to go. I couldn't imagine being so cold, and hungry, and sick, yet still have to work hard in order to have a home. I couldn't imagine being a member of this little group of people and witnessing the deaths of half of the group! And so I wrote from my heart on what I imagined that first Thanksgiving was like.

The day came for my teacher to read the "winning" paper to the whole class. I thought for sure that it would be mine! It wasn't. The best paper was written by Arie Mast. I hadn't thought about Arie for over forty years! But that memory of the Thanksgiving paper competition came back to me as if it had happened just last week.

What makes this memory so sad is that yesterday I received an email from a friend telling me that Arie passed away on Sunday. How sad is that? His funeral is today - the first day of December. There is something very sobering about hearing that a grade school friend has died. As I read some of the memories that people left for his family, it was obvious that Arie had touched many lives - deeply. It was also obvious that Arie had an unshakable faith in God.

May his family and friends be comforted during this sad time, and may they cherish their memories of Arie. May those memories be their roses in December.

The Empty Gift

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is over? In rushes the Christmas season!!!! I think this is the perfect story to transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas. This story is one that has always had a rather haunting effect on me. But it's worth the read!

Chuck Swindoll has a close friend who knows this young attorney in Texas of a sizable law firm. He worked for a traditional kind of boss who had a thing for Thanksgiving. Every year the boss would go through a sort of ritual; at this large walnut table he would place a series of turkeys for each member in the law firm. This was not just a simple "pick a turkey if you want one" but a formal setting where your turkey would be placed in front of you and when the time came for you to receive yours, you would step up to the turkey and express how grateful you were to work for the firm and acknowledge the gift of this turkey and the special holiday of Thanksgiving.

Now the problem was, this attorney was single and had no use for a large turkey. First, he didn’t know how to fix it and second, even if he did cook it what would he do with all the meat? But because it was expected ,he took the turkey every year. What he didn’t know is that one year his close friends stole his turkey and in its place put a paper mache turkey and weighed it down with lead to make it feel like a real turkey. They put a real neck and tail on it so that it looked just like the real thing but it was a bogus bird through and through.

When it came his turn, he stepped up and picked up the bird and announced how grateful he was to be with the firm and to receive the turkey on this memorable day of Thanksgiving. Later that day he got on the bus heading for home and sat down with the turkey on his lap wondering what in the world he would do with it. Later down the line a man got on the bus looking a little worn down and discouraged and happened to sit down on a vacant seat next to this attorney. They stuck up a conversation talking about Thanksgiving and by and by the attorney learned that this stranger was out job hunting having no luck. The stranger had a large family and was wondering what he would do for Thanksgiving tomorrow. The attorney thought that this was his day to do a good deed! He would give the man his turkey! Then he had a second thought. This man was not a free loader, he was not a bum and it would probably break his pride to give the man the turkey so he decided he would sell it to him. "How much money do you have?" the attorney asked. The man responded. " I have a couple of dollars and a few cents." "I would like to sell you this turkey!" and he placed it in his lap. "Sold!" the young attorney announced and proceeded to take the man's last couple dollars. The man was moved to tears, thrilled to death that his family would have Thanksgiving at home with a turkey!! He got off the bus and waved to the attorney with kind words. "God bless you!" "Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!" "I will remember you forever!" and the bus drove off.

Now the stranger got home and announced to the family, "You will never believe the nice man I met today!" and he set the turkey down on the table and began to unwrap it only to find a paper bird weighed down with lead!!!! The next day at the office the attorney comes in and his friends are dying to know about the turkey. You can imagine the look on their faces when they heard the nice story of the stranger on the bus? Chuck tells us that from what he understands the attorney and his friends searched the bus lines for the next week for that man who as far as he knows still entertains a misunderstanding about a guy who sold him a fake turkey for two bucks.

Thank You, Father, for this special time of year! Sometimes our gifts to others are empty or misunderstood. Thank you, Father, for the very special gift that You shared with the whole world; a gift that is misunderstood by many, but a gift that is far from empty!

Preparing For Thanksgiving

I've always enjoyed this little story told by Charles Swindoll, recalling a man's visit to a dismal Veteran's hospital.

"The day I arrived to visit, I saw a touching scene. This soldier had a young son, and during his confinement in the hospital, he had made a little wooden truck for his boy. Since the boy was not allowed to go up into the ward and visit his father, an orderly had brought the gift down to the child, who was waiting in front of the hospital with his mother. The father looked out of a fifth floor window, watching his son unwrap the gift. The little boy opened the package, and his eyes got wide when he saw that wonderful little truck. He hugged it to his chest. He was thrilled by the gift. Meanwhile, the father was walking back and forth waving his arms behind the windowpane, trying to get his son's attention. The little boy put the truck down and reached up and hugged the orderly and thanked him for the truck. And all the while the frustrated father was going through these dramatic gestures, trying to say, 'It's me, son! I made the truck for you! I gave that to you! Look up here!' I could almost read his lips. Finally the mother and the orderly were able to turn the boy's attention up to that fifth floor window. It was then that the boy cried, 'Daddy! Oh, thank you! I miss you, Daddy! Come home, Daddy. Thank you for my truck!' And the father stood in the window smiling with tears pouring down his cheeks."

Yup, that little boy is just like me...usually thanking the wrong person! Often, I must repeat these words from an old hymn in a prayer request to my Father: Tune my heart to sing Thy praise! I get "out of tune", distracted by other things, and need to be reminded to stop, to pause, to ponder all that I have because of Christ. And with humbled heart, I look to heaven with out-stretched arms and say, "Thank YOU!"

Today's post will be part of a devotional carnival via Rachel Olsen. To enjoy more devotions and to find out more about Proverbs 31, I encourage you to visit Rachel at http://rachelolsen.blogspot.com/

Learning To Be Grateful

Thou hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, - a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.
~George Herbert

Just sharing a beautiful poem with y'all today. Oh, to live each day with a heart full of thanks!

Breakfast At Chick Fil A

I have the sweetest little boy that I tutor on Saturday mornings. His name is Edwin and he is in first grade. Every week Edwin has phonograms that he must memorize. For example, if I show him the phonogram "ed", I have to teach him the three different ways he would hear "ed". Sometimes it's "ed" like in "added". Sometimes it sounds like "d" like in "walked". Or sometimes it sounds like "t" as in the word "checked". Poor Edwin! I think phonograms must make his little life miserable! Especially on Saturday mornings. But he is such a little trooper and he has such a brilliant little mind and he is learning his sounds. When I was in school, there were 70 phonograms. But, like everything else, times have changed...today's students must learn 72. Edwin has 57 of them mastered!

This morning, as I drove to Edwin's, I decided to treat myself to breakfast at Chick Fil A. I LOVE their chicken minis!!!!! Anyway, as I patiently (?) sat in the drive thru lane, I noticed these cute little birds hopping around. They were out catching the proverbial early worm. Only, instead of worms, they were feasting on Chick Fil A crumbs! One little guy had a HUGE piece of bread in his beak. I mean, it was almost as big as he was! So, I was just smiling at the cute little birds, and inching my way up to the "order machine" (what's the correct term for that thing?), when a little bird caught my eye and literally made me gasp! I saw this bird pick up a piece of mulch. Motherly instincts took over! From behind the rolled-up windows of my car, I called out to the bird. "NO!", I tried to warn him. "Don't eat that! It's not food!"

Somewhere in that little vignette is a kernel for a devotion to be written someday in the future.

Today, it brought to mind Matthew 7.

9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!


So thankful for sunny Saturdays, little boys learning to read, and a heavenly Father that has never given me a snake, or a stone, or a piece of mulch!

Attention, TSA

Here in the States we have a real problem. People are up-in-arms over the new airport security procedures. In an effort to keep the airways safe, passengers are either "x-rayed" or "patted down". Either procedure is quite an invasion of a person's privacy. Comedians are having way too much fun finding the humor in this whole mess, but this one is by far the best I've read. It came to me via a former student's Facebook status...thanks, Leah, for sharing a much needed laugh over this messy situation!

The Israelis are developing an airport security device that will eliminate the privacy concerns that come with full-body scanners at the airports. It's a booth you can step into that will not X-ray you, but will detonate any explosive device you may have hidden on your body. This is a win-win for everyone, with none of the whining about racial profiling. It also would eliminate the costs of long and expensive trials. Justice would be swift. Case closed!

Imagine this: You're in the airport terminal and you hear a muffled explosion . . .
Shortly thereafter an announcement comes over the PA system: "Attention standby passengers — we were just informed that we now have a seat available in coach."

Shalom

Veteran's Day, 2010

Veteran's Day...I'm sure this day means many things to many people. For me, I usually think of my Uncle Bob. He served in the Air Force during World War II. He was a pilot and flew a B 29 in the Pacific. I remember his war stories. I remember the way he would tear up when he recalled some of his bombing missions. It bothered him that he was asked to drop bombs in civilian neighborhoods in Japan. This happened because the Japanese actually had wearhouses and factories in homes, hoping that the enemy would never bomb the homes. But they did. Uncle Bob said that they often flew these missions low and could smell the burning of flesh, the consequences of the napalm bombs. He hated that. It haunted him. He wrestled with his personal responsibility in the death of these people; it plagued him with questions. Such is the way of war. It is ugly.

My grandmother gave Uncle Bob a Bible when he left for war. She made him promise her that he would read it. "If you are afraid, read Psalm 91", she told my uncle. He memorized that Psalm.(I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Psalm 91:1) He said that "fear" was his constant companion, but he never left on a mission without bringing his Bible. He never left the ground before first saying a prayer.

As I drove home tonight, I smiled. I had just spent two hours with my Japanese student and her mother. Her mother speaks very little English, but I sat and listened to her explain some of her frustrations that she experienced at her daughter's high school. She was so thankful that I was there to sit and listen to her that she sent me home with some special grapes she bought from the Korean market. So sweet! Couldn't help but think about Uncle Bob as I made my way back home with my bag of grapes. It has been an interesting Veteran's Day...

I am thankful for men and women who have sacrificed much for freedom.

Waiting (and waiting, and waiting some more!) For The Shuttle

Today's post is for my sister Karen and her husband, Harv, who are stuck in Florida, waiting for the shuttle to launch. Harv has always wanted to witness a launch, so he is the proud owner of one ticket that will allow him to see the launch up close and personal. Another thing he gets to cross off of his "Bucket List"!!! However, what should such an exciting time, has turned out to be a real test of patience. The shuttle keeps getting delayed. I can imagine the frustration! Harv, I

Hope the launch is soon!!! Can't wait to hear about it! (One less woulda', shoulda', coulda', right?)